Pulitzer Buying Papers

Southtown Economist Agrees To Takeover

Pulitzer Publishing Co., the St. Louis media company, plans to expand its presence in the Chicago-area community newspaper market with the acquisition of Southtown Economist Inc.

Bruce Sagan, Southtown president and owner, said Friday that he has reached an agreement in principle to sell his company to Pulitzer Publishing. Terms of the cash transaction, which is expected to close shortly, weren`t disclosed.

One published report put the price at about $40 million.

Sagan`s firm publishes the Daily Southtown Economist, with a circulation of about 25,000, 18 weeklies and a group of shoppers. The publications, which circulate primarily in the south and southwest suburbs, have a total circulation of about 440,000, he said.

Southtown, with headquarters at 5969 S. Harlem Ave., also is a contract printer for Midwest editions of the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Chicago Defender and Lerner chain of Chicago and suburban community newspapers.

Lerner was acquired by Pulitzer Publishing last year.

Southtown also has contracted with the Levy Organization to print an afternoon Chicago business daily slated to debut later this month and to begin printing this spring an edition of Investor`s Daily.

Sagan said he will become chief executive officer of Pulitzer Community Newspapers Inc., the unit being formed to run Southtown. Sagan has owned Southtown since 1958.

In a telephone interview from St. Louis, Michael E. Pulitzer, vice chairman of Pulitzer Publishing, said Sagan ``will be the overall boss`` of both Southtown and Lerner, but there are no current plans to merge the two operations.

Sagan said that, with Southtown, Pulitzer Publishing will own daily and weekly papers with more than 700,000 circulation in the Chicago area.

He said Pulitzer Publishing plans to expand the reach of those publications. Both Sagan and Pulitzer said there are no plans to create a metropolitan daily to compete with The Tribune and the Sun-Times.

``We`ll stick with community newspapers,`` Pulitzer said.

Sagan said, ``Our feeling is that there is a great deal of growth possible in the community newspaper market here.``

Pulitzer Publishing is a family-owned company that also owns the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Arizona Daily Star, seven television stations and two radio stations.

Pulitzer said the Southtown acquisition was approved unanimously by his company`s board of directors at a meeting last Monday.